This cut block of rhodenite came from the slide area west of Keremeos. It was cut from a five ton boulder by Stonewriter in Millet, Alberta. Much of this rock (semi-precious gem stone) has been used for rip-rap on the Similkameen River dyke in the Keremeos area. The rhodenite (manganese) is part of a regional strataform deposit. These are volcanigenic sea bottom black “smokers” approximately 400 million years old. The formation also carries traces of gold and silver and may have geologic links with Hedley gold deposit.